Parisian designer Jeanne Friot has never shied away from a political statement or a party, so for her third turn on the calendar she gave us a bit of both.
The dance floor in Club Rex doubled as a catwalk for Friot and friends, who walked, strutted and waved to cheers and applause from the audience. The theme was writ large on T-shirts, “Gender Anarchy,” and she made the political personal.
“It’s no-gender fashion, and this collection is about my love with my lover and I really wanted to have this message, because we need it,” she said backstage after the show.
That lover walked in a look that was Friot’s take on workwear, spattered with paint and cinched at the waist. Other models worked it in sheer body-con stocking dresses, vinyl trousers and a purple version of her signature feathered jeans.
Love also manifested itself in a shorts and crop-top coordinate constructed of vintage keys, a symbol of allowing someone to open your heart. It created a mesmerizing sparkle effect with a metallic swoosh. An embellished minidress featured real flowers, meticulously woven together over a black base just that afternoon.
Friot’s punk references remained consistent, as she reiterated her fondness for dresses made of belts. She played on that with belt-print T-shirts and plenty of plaid. Friot added her take on this season’s tailoring in voluminous checked trenchcoats and suiting that bridged the gap between punk and classic, and got a head start on the trending “mob wife” aesthetic, with floor-length faux fur coats dramatically sweeping the runway.